The National Student Clearinghouse® Research Center™regularly publishes research that supports education, workforce, and learner success. Our research offers objective data and insights about student enrollment, mobility, completion, and other important student outcomes that are visible only through the Clearinghouse data. Our nationwide network of nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions provides up-to-date student-level data that represents 97 percent of the postsecondary enrollment today. Our publications are to benefit and better inform the education community, policymakers, business leaders, and other community leaders.
COVID-19
Stay Informed with the Latest Enrollment Information
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s Monthly Update on Higher Education Enrollment
November 12, 2020
COVID-19
Transfer, Mobility, and Progress
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s Update on Transfer Students
December 21, 2020
Publication Series
Yearly Success & Progress Rates
Year-by-year rates of persistence, transfer, completion, and stop-out can help states and institutions better identify effective intervention points to increase student success.
Last Published February 9, 2021
30%
Part-time beginning students no longer enrolled anywhere two years later, up 5 percentage points from a year ago
Undergraduate Degree Earners
Early impacts of the pandemic revealed by undergraduate credential earners during the 2019-20 academic year.
Last Published January 28, 2021
26,000
Decline in first-time college graduates from a year ago
Current Term Enrollment Estimates
Latest enrollment estimates for the current term for the nation and by state, reported for different institution types, student groups, and major fields.
Last Published December 17, 2020
560,000
Decline in undergraduate enrollment from a year ago
High School Benchmarks
This year’s report features a first look at the effect of COVID-19 on the immediate college enrollment rate of the high school graduating class of 2020, as well as an update to the national benchmarks of high school to college transition, persistence, and completion rates for the recent high school graduate cohorts.
Last Published December 10, 2020
22%
Decline in students going to college immediately after high school from a year ago
Completing College
Provides a comprehensive overview of postsecondary completion trends nationally and by state. For all students who enter postsecondary education for the first time each year, it examines the diverse pathways the student traversed toward completion, as well as a degree or certificate completion rate within six and eight years of enrolling.
Last Published December 3, 2020
60%
The national 6-year college completion rate, counting all students at all institutions
Tracking Transfer
Latest six-year baccalaureate degree completion rate for transfer students from two- to four-year institutions is reported for the 2013 cohort of first-time degree-seeking students, analyzed by student SES and institutional characteristics.
Last Published September 29, 2020
14%
Community college beginners earning a BA in six years, an increase of 1 percentage point over last year
Persistence & Retention
The report is designed to help institutions understand first-year college persistence and retention patterns and identify disparities between different students, institutions, or states in this important early success indicator.
Last Published August 13, 2020
76%
First-time college students who persisted at any U.S. institution in their first year of college
Some College, No Degree
This report offers insights about students’ subsequent enrollments and completions, based on the most current national data that tracks individual students over time and across institutions and across state lines since the first Some College, No Degree report was released in 2014.
Last Published October 30, 2019
3.8M
Some College, No Degree students who re-enrolled in the past five years. Nearly 1 million completed.
Upcoming Publications
FEB 2021
COVID-19: Fall Enrollment Update for 2020 High School Grads
MAR 2021
COVID-19: Stay Informed (First Look Spring 2021 Enrollment)
MAR 2021
COVID-19: Transfer, Mobility, & Progress #3 (Spring 2021)
Current Initiatives
Postsecondary Data Partnership
The Postsecondary Data Partnership is a nationwide initiative to help colleges and universities more efficiently gain a fuller picture of student progress and outcomes, meet various reporting requirements, and focus more of their resources on using data to help students.
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